The reference to 360 spokes is a sexagesimal number expressed in decimal.  This certainly points to the mathematical traditions of Mesopotamia.

--

Professor Dominik Wujastyk*
Singhmar Chair in Classical Indian Society and Polity

Department of History and Classics

University of Alberta, Canada

On 18 March 2016 at 08:52, George Thompson <gthomgt@gmail.com> wrote:

Hello all,

Madhav's passage is RV 1.164.11.  By chance, I've been looking at this hymn today.

George Thompson

On Fri, Mar 18, 2016 at 9:04 AM, Madhav Deshpande <mmdesh@umich.edu> wrote:

The idea of a rotating wheel of time goes all the way back to the Rigveda: dvādaśāraṃ na hi taj jarāya vavarti cakram pari dyām ṛtasya (don't have the textual ref at hand).  The idea of the spokes of the wheel going up and down is referred to in Sanskrit lit in many places with expressions like cakra-nemi-krama and cakrārapaṅkti.

Madhav Deshpande

On Fri, Mar 18, 2016 at 8:42 AM, Artur Karp <karp@uw.edu.pl> wrote:

Dear List, 

Mahabharata I, 29. 2-5 and Sumangalavilasini (Buddhaghosa's commentary to Mahaparinibbana-sutta)  VI, 26  contain images of a revolving wheel (with 360? spokes), guarded by figures with swords in hands, and by two serpents. Viśvakarma/Vissakamma is mentioned as the wheel's constructor. 

Is that - or similar - image present somewhere else in the ancient Indian literature?

Thanks in advance for your comments -

Artur Karp

South Asian Studies Deptt (emeritus), University of Warsaw, Poland

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--

Madhav M. Deshpande
Professor of Sanskrit and Linguistics
Department of Asian Languages and Cultures
202 South Thayer Street, Suite 6111
The University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI 48104-1608, USA

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